Thread: Some advice for a newbie please

Dave ,
It can be very overwhelming at first.
I have the INCRA gear it's really very good gear.
But ,also very expensive.

My suggestion would be to actually start with a good book on Routers extra.
They can be dangerous if your not careful ,not trying to scare you ,just being helpful I was bitten once.
A great book is .
The new router handbook by Patrick Spielman
With lots of good advice .
Start with a simple half day build router table .
If you really get into it ,you can use this table to build a better one.
I think you find you always want a better table .
I know I'm thinking about my third table already .

Cheers Matt


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Have a look at McJings https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowse...ategoryid=1030 for T Track, and wander around their site for various fittings to suit. They are the cheapest source I know of for this extrusion.
A fence can be as simple as a length of straight timber pivoted from one side of the router table and clamped on the other side anywhere along the fence's arc.
I have an Incra LS jig on my router table, highly recommended although not a cheap piece of gear.

Have fun working out a suitable table with all the options to consider.

Alan...

Crikey Dave, there's a lot of different ways to go. I built a small one (600x400mm) with a plain MDF top, a home made fence (with DE hole) from 4x2 Tallowood. Added more DE underneath so that it now runs with a shopvac plus the big 2hp dusty. It was made on a freestanding cabinet, with a carpet base so I can slide it around (current space dictates a Chinese Puzzle for larger tools).

It was always going to be my learning curve on the road to a proper jobbie. It has the larger Triton router in it.

I would advocate a similar fairly simple approach to your first table, because you will always build second one after you've used it for 6 months or more, and can use the experience you've gained to design what you want. You can then keep the smaller table for the bit you use the most (in my case a 5mm roundover). The current router stays in the first table because by then you'll have worked out that you want another router in a proper lift anyway. (the Triton lift adjustment ain't all it's cracked up to be, as you will find out).








As for T-Track, I used McJings, but I'm not sure what's available in Brissie. (2.4m lengths are kinda hard to post from Sydney)

Certainly I wouldn't splash out on any expensive inserts or fences etc until some experience is gained, as that experience will definitely colour what you want in the end.

HTH
Brett

Hi Dave
That inset looks OK ... lots of bracing underneath and height adjusters ... you will have to drill for the above table winder (if your Triton has this feature).

I have Kreg Table and Kreg fence ... and a TA1 ... the setup works well.

Dont forget the dust extraction ... it's a must to have an enclosed cabinet for the router and a vacuum line to the fence.

There are oodles of tables on the Youtube .... the best features require a solid and stable table ... 30mm plus MDF with a nice surface of laminex

I have slots on my table but I only use them for the feather boards (I do all my finger joints on the table saw) but if you get the Rockler jig you will need slots ... available from Carbatec, Timbercon and heaps of places.

The thing I use a lot are the stops attached to the fence to get my starting and stopping positions. They are so handy.

Another thing is to use good quality bits (CNC router bits are my choice) andf for end grain stick and cove work I do use a big square of ply to push the work through and as a backing board (dont use the mitre slots for such stuff).

If you are going to mount your Triton make sure you read the manual on the things you need to do (springs etc) and you will want to instal a separate power switch on the outside of the cabinet ... for safety and easy access.

Good luck

Regards

Rob

Either start really simple - hole in a piece of MDF/ply with a board fence fixed at one end - or spend a few dollars on some good basics.

It seems to me that Steve Ramsey makes hard work of fitting a router plate to a table top. Frame up around the router plate on the top with some straight stock, clamp or tape the framing to the top, cut a hole to accept your pattern router bit (top bearing) and away you go. No precision woodwork required, but try to get the depth of cut pretty exact. If the depth isn't perfect shim it with masking tape.

Kitchen manufacturers often have off-cuts of laminated bench top that they'll sell to you for next to nothing. Make a stand out of an old small table/desk, you might have to reinforce it. The router plate you've linked to is very narrow, consider whether this may present problems in the future. When selecting a router plate be careful to avoid ones where sagging may become a problem. I've never used a mitre guide on my router table, however I have included the facility to fit one. I do have a T-slot track in the table top that I use for fixtures. McJing is a good source of T-slot track, don't know if there is anywhere in Brisbane, try one of the aluminium extrusion mobs.

As far as jigs go, like Simplicity, I'm an Incra man. You simply can't go past the versatility and repeatable accuracy of their fence systems. Dovetails generally require the purchase of a professional system unless you can get your head around the bit angles and spacing, but simple box joint jigs can be home built. The jig in this post by tccp123 - S-shaped occasional table using only finger joints - could be adapted to the router table. There's a heap of others on the forum and the net as well.

You'll never regret building a decent router table, and you don't have to spend a fortune.

A router table with a decent 10mm thick aluminium router insert plate is highly recommended by me. Decent extra options to have are miter slots left and right of the cutter for box/dovetail joint type jigs. And a miter slot which runs left->right of the table for end grain operations such as tenons, but with experience you don't really need this miter slot as the same operation can be done with less setup time and only slightly elevated risk level. These two things are pretty basic. I personally don't have miter slots on my router table because they are just another thing to catch ragged edges of timber on, or fill up with dust etc. When I need a miter slot on my router table, which is very rare, I just clamp two pieces of MDF spread 'x' amount apart to create the 'miter slot'.

As far as fences go, I just use a strip of particleboard clamped at each end of my table. Sometimes when i need more height in the fence I use two pieces of particleboard which have been butt jointed at 90° to each other, this is a really dodgy fence that can't be trusted. Neither fence I would recommend to someone without experience and is also intimidated by the router. A good split fence router fence forms a big part of router table safety as it allows you to bring the fences in close to the router bit removing access to fingers to the rear 180° of the router bit. And then when you put a guard over the top of the bit, you pretty much can't hurt yourself via cutting unless you are really trying to.

The above table triton winder thing sux. It is so bad. I reach under the table and turn the rack n pinion to get me close to the mark and then turn the fine adjustment knob to get me exact.

The insert you linked to looks like an insert for a trim router.
Try this one
https://www.timbecon.com.au/routing/...mounting-plate.

Originally Posted by NCArcher

The insert you linked to looks like an insert for a trim router.
Try this one
https://www.timbecon.com.au/routing/...mounting-plate.

Yeah I was looking at that one but how do you level it? Do you have to make a perfect rabbet to hold it?

I have some form ply I was going to use for the top. Heavy flat and smooth. I can glue and screw some ply or MDF under it to make it 38mm thick since that seems to be the thing to do.


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Good question. It doesn't appear to have any leveling screws.
I used formply for my last router table (threw it out last week. No room in storage) and it worked very well. I had 2 pieces of 3/4" formply screwed together for rigidity but I still needed a couple of pieces of angle iron running length ways to stop it from bowing. I have a Unilift which is quite heavy.
Without the leveling screws you can pack under the plate with masking tape

This morning I have been reading about the plastic inserts bowing with a med or heavy router. I also notice that Carbatec no longer list the Kreg insert on their website.
So should I stick to an aluminium insert?


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I have an aluminium insert, and so far no problems. But it is early days, and time will tell.